Destroying Pandora Is Harder Then It Looks
by Katty008
Summary: Kid is taking too long to return his last heist, and that inadvertently puts his littlest critic in danger. Fearing the possibility of his enemies catching up to him before he finishes his job, he contacts Conan in hope of keeping Pandora away from them.
1. Kidnapping

**Disclaimer: Do not own Detective Conan, Magic Kaito, or that pesky stone called Pandora.**

**Hi! This is my first multichaptered DC fic (other than Time and Space, which is a crossover so it doesn't really count). Well, the first one that I'm posting. It's not going to be very long, and I'm more or less half-done already. This first chapter may seem like it's going to be some big "Let's bring down the Org. together!" thing, but it's really not.**

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Conan payed no heed to what Ran and Sonoko were saying. Since it was Sonoko, he didn't need to guess what they were talking about. Instead he focused on the world around him, including that dark shape barreling towards him.

Hang on…

Comprehension dawned too late as Conan was picked up by a larger body and spirited speedily away. He could hear Ran shouting in the background, giving chase, but his kidnapper quickly lost her. He looked up at the face of the person, who grinned cheekily back. Suddenly all sense of adventure was lost. "Kaito Kid."

"Oi oi. Better not shout that too loud. I'll have to keep out of your sight in civilian form from now on, otherwise you'll be all "It's Kaito Kid!" in my face."

"Why are you kidnapping me?" Conan asked, getting straight to the point.

"I'm not kidnapping you," the thief protested. "I'm rescuing you from a hostile situation."

Conan glared. "You can't possibly be referring to Sonoko-neechan, so spit it out already."

"Some friends of mine," Kid elaborated, the subject of the conversation indicating that they were anything but friends. "They're getting a bit antsy since I'm taking so long to return the last heist. Getting a bit more desperate than usual to figure out who I really am. So desperate in fact that they're willing to bet that you might know something. Which you do, but we'll forget that for a moment as we contemplate what would happen to the both of us should they get their hands on you."

"What about Ran-neechan?"

"About half a minute ago, she received a text message from her precious Shinichi saying that he's back for a little while and he's waiting for her at his house."

Conan quickly searched his pockets. "Uwaah! When did you-?"

Kid patted his jacket pocket. "Don't worry. Your precious phone is safe."

Conan glared. "You do realize I'm going to kill you for that."

"No you won't, not at all. We need to have a man talk, and those girls just can't come with without certain secrets being aired out like last week's dirty laundry." Kid suddenly stopped in the middle of an alleyway. "Can I set you down without fear of retribution or you running off?"

Conan quickly weighed his options, then realized that he had been hooked at the slightest hint of danger. "Yeah."

Kid put Conan down, then knelt so they were face to face. "Listen, Kudo Shinichi. The men that are after me are suddenly desperate because we are looking for the same thing for different reasons and I haven't given back my last heist yet. This has, in turn, put you in danger. Other then the fact that that just doesn't flow with me, if I die before I manage to destroy it and they get their hands on it that spells a whole lot of bad for the entire world."

"It?" Conan queried.

"I'll explain later," Kid waved it away. "The point is, if I destroy it before they kill me then at least I'll have destroyed it and they won't have it. Unfortunately even that is looking like more I can accomplish at the moment."

"You're convinced they're going to kill you?"

"It's only a matter of time before they get a brain among them and figure out who I am. The hints are all there, just no one smart enough to put them together."

Conan folded his arms. "I still don't get what this has to do with me, other than these friends of yours going after me because of it."

"I need you to help me destroy it. If we can't destroy it together, then I need you to take it and hide it away somewhere where it won't ever see the light of day again. But in order for either of those to happen, I need you to trust me. And," at this Kid grimaced slightly, "I need you to keep my secret."

"Meaning that in order for me to help you, you will end up revealing your true identity." Kid nodded. "Well, considering that if I ever ratted you out you would end up deader than a doornail from what you've told me, you don't need to worry. There are worse crooks than you."

Kid looked relieved. "Thank you. Now come on, we've got to hurry."

The two of them walked for quite a bit longer, until Conan didn't recognize the surrounding area at all. "I don't suppose you'll tell me where we are."

"I've got your word that you won't rat. We're in Ekoda."

Conan blinked. "Could you live in a bigger nest of enemies?"

Kid laughed. "Well, Hakuba didn't join the party until later on. Inspector Nakamori balances that out however by living only a street away."

Conan blinked again. "I'm not quite sure what to say other than that you're impressive."

"Then why don't you just say I'm impressive a dozen times over?"

"Shut up."

The two of them rounded a corner to bump into a messy-haired girl and a tall blond. "Kaito!" the girl exclaimed. "Me and Hakuba-kun are going to Tropical Land! Want to come?"

Conan almost missed the flinch that shuddered through Kaito's body. Kaito, likewise, definitely saw Conan's flinch. "Sorry Aoko. I can't. I'm watching this kid for a friend." He jerked a thumb down at Conan.

Aoko's face fell. "Oh." Then it lit up. "Why don't we all go?"

Hakuba leaned down and almost leered at Conan. "You're watching Conan-kun? I didn't know you knew the Mouris Kuroba."

"Kaito-niisan is so cool! He's going to show me his magic!" Conan improvised. Uh-oh. Hakuba Saguru was no idiot. Hopefully Kid… whose name was apparently Kuroba Kaito… had something planned.

"Really? Kuroba is certainly good. As good as Kid himself I'd say."

Shit. Hakuba Saguru really _wasn't_ an idiot. "Re-really? You think so, Hakuba-niisan?"

Kaito interrupted them. "I really wish we could go with you," he started. He then glared at Hakuba. "I really, _really_ wish we could go with you, but we're a little busy. Have fun."

"Okay! Bye Kaito!" Aoko started dragging Hakuba off, who looked like he wanted nothing more than to stay and interrogate the two of them on their relationship.

As soon as they were gone Kaito let out his breath. "I hate him so much. Come on."

They walked in silence to a small yellow house. As soon as the door was shut though, Kaito rounded on Conan. "Why didn't you tell me you knew Hakuba?" he demanded.

"Why didn't _you_ tell me you were chummy with Inspector Nakamori's _daughter?_"

"Kaito, do you have a friend over?" came a feminine voice from another room.

"Yes Mom," Kaito answered back.

Conan's face was unrelenting. "Kaito Kid, famous jewel thief, lives with his _mother_?"

Kaito mimicked Conan's voice perfectly. "Kudo Shinichi, famous shrunken teenage detective, lives with his _girlfriend_?"

"I'm going to hurt you!"

"Kaito, are you _sure_ it's a friend?"

"Mostly!" he called back, picking Conan up by the back of his collar. "Now come on," he hissed. "We have work to do."

Conan was dragged up the stairs, into a rec room of some kind, and through a revolving painting. The painting surprised him the most, though the logical part of his brain realized that Kid must have a pretty good hiding place for all his junk. Once he was set down, he rounded on Kaito again. "Why the _hell_ did you just shout it out like that? Your mother heard you!"

Kaito folded his arms. "And my mother is the best secret-keeper on the planet. She's kept two generations of Kids, she can keep a shrunken detective she isn't even related to."

"It's the 'isn't even related to' part I'm worried about."

Kaito ignored him, instead choosing to drag Conan over to a work table on top of which sat a decent-sized piece of alexandrite, shining emerald in the darkened room. "What can you tell me about alexandrite?"

Conan smirked. "You're the internationally wanted jewel thief. You tell me."

"Fine then. It's the third hardest natural gemstone. They are known for displaying a color change based on light, known as the alexandrite effect. This particular specimen is from the Ural Mountains in Russia. The alexandrite from there is green in daylight and red…" He reached over and turned on the desk lamp. The room flooded with the color of blood. "In incandescent light. Also, did I mention that it's the third hardest natural gemstone, and I can't break it?"

Conan picked it up in awe. The red shine filled the room, lighting up darkened areas that probably haven't seen light in years. "Are you sure you've been trying to destroy it? It's not even scratched. And I was at the heist. It was certainly colored red, but it didn't glow like this."

Kaito shrugged. "The best I can come up with is that I charged it or something. Hearsay says its name is Pandora and that it cries tears of immortality when a certain volley comet passes. Hearsay also says that it glows red under the moonlight, which it certainly did the night of the heist, and hasn't stopped glowing since."

Conan gave Kaito a meaningful look. "And you're sure you want to open Pandora's Box?"

Kaito shrugged again. "Hey, give Pandora some credit. She may have let loose all the ills of the world, but at least she shut the box before Hope escaped." He held up a broken drill bit. "Besides, right now I'm not having much luck as it is so it's a bit of a moot point."

"Why do you want to destroy it anyway?"

Kaito leaned on the edge of the table, suddenly more serious than before. "The people who are after it, who I saved you from, they want it too. They want it for its immortality legend, and they're willing to kill for it. I swore that I'd destroy it so that they won't get their hands on immortality, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. That's why I want to destroy it."

Conan had no response to that. After a few tense minutes, the revolving painting revolved again, to reveal a middle-aged woman carrying a tray with a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk on it. "Are you boys hungry?" Kaito's mother asked them. "Here's a snack for you." She set it down on the table next to where Conan had put the alexandrite. "And it's nice to meet you, Kudo-kun."

"My name is Edogawa Conan," Conan nearly growled, reminded of Kaito's earlier transgression.

"Whatever you say, Kudo-kun." She left.

Kaito picked up a cookie and bit into it, licking melted chocolate off of his lips. "Give up. She's a fan of your father's, she's going to call you Kudo-kun in private 'till you're sick of it. Have a cookie, they're good."

Conan blinked at Kaito. Then he exploded. "_Is your mother insane? You wander out night after night to steal jewels, get shot at, always with a chance of arrest and or death, and she brings you cookies and milk in your secret lair?_"

Kaito smiled indulgently. "She's always been very supportive of whatever I decide to do," he said in a slow, mocking voice. "Seriously though, the cookies are really good."

Glaring, Conan ate a cookie. He admitted that they really were good (though not out loud).

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"I'm home!"

"Conan-kun!" Ran was in his face, angry. "Where have you been? I've been worried sick! You could've called at least!"

"Sorry, Ran-neechan!" Conan grinned, trying to look as sheepishly little-kiddie as possible. "I met a new friend and lost track of the time!"

"Oh?" Ran asked, almost disbelievingly.

Conan nodded, as enthusiastically as he found possible while thinking about the thief. "Yeah! His name is Kaito, he looks a lot like Shinichi-niichan! In fact, I bet he's the one you saw in Shibuya that time!"

The room suddenly got hotter, as Conan belatedly remembered Kid's earlier distraction technique. "That good for nothing, mystery loving idiot!" Ran threw the duster she was holding at the ground very hard. Conan had to suppress a wince.

"Ah, what did Shinichi-niichan do this time, Ran-neechan?"

"That _moron_ sent me a text message saying he was home! But when I got there nobody was home and the house was still locked up! That _idiot_! That _scumball_! That-"

Conan held up his hands to stop her. "Ran-neechan, I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation."

Ran turned her fury on him. "Yeah?" she asked, eyes burning.

Conan flinched. "Y-yeah… Ran-neechan, I'm going to go do my homework."

"You do that."

Conan fled to his room while Ran headed for the kitchen. In reality, Conan had no homework. He just needed to give Ran some time to calm down while he figured out a way out of this one. In the kitchen, the banging of pots reverberated louder than ever. Conan decided that he was going to need a really good story.

During dinner, Ran seemed a little calmer. Conan came to the conclusion that she wasn't going to calm down any more without some outside interference. After they were done eating, he snuck out so as not to be disturbed.

_Rrring!_

_Rrri-_

"Mouri Detective-"

"Hi Ran."

3… 2… 1…

"_Shinichi! What the hell was up with that stunt earlier?"_

Shinichi chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I called as soon as I found out. One of the people I'm working with got a hold of my phone and decided to play a prank. Sorry about that."

_"Mou, Shinichi. You should be more careful with your stuff."_

"He's a reformed pickpocket. Even if I were more careful, it wouldn't have helped a bit." Though not technically a pickpocket, and not exactly reformed.

_"What kind of people are you working with anyway?"_

Shinichi laughed. "Sometimes it seems like every single oddball on the planet." Because Kaito Kid was definitely an oddball.

_"Hit him for me, would you?"_

"Yes Ran."

_"Hey, Shinichi?"_

"Yeah?"

_"When are you coming home?"_

"As soon as I can Ran. Not right now, but as soon as I can."

_"This one case is taking an awfully long time. Are you sure you haven't gotten in over your head?"_

Over his head. Funny. "Don't worry Ran! I'll take care of it. Don't you know that nothing's over my head?"

_"Pompous detective twit."_

"Baaro. If you're going to be like that, I'll just hang up then."

_"Goodbye Shinichi. Come home soon."_

"Bye Ran."

When Conan walked back into the detective agency, Ran was nowhere to be seen.

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**There. A-ha! Reviews please, let me know what I'm doing wrong. Failing that, let me know if you like my wittiness.**


	2. Suspicion

**Disclaimer: N'est pas own Detective Conan, Magic Kaito, or Pandora. But I made a nifty Magic Kaito poster in Photoshop!**

**Not much to say. I came up with the ending and just had to scribble it down, so now I've got the beginning, the end, and not the middle. And part of the this chapter is entirely the fault of hattergems. Bwahahah!**

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A week passed. Conan settled into, if not a blossoming friendship, then at least a mutual agreement with the thief Kaito Kid. He spent most of his free time in the thief's lair, brainstorming and putting to the test various ways of destroying Pandora.

And Kaito had been quite right. His mother had continued to call him Kudo-kun. Later investigation had revealed a shelf dedicated to his father's books, every single one of them signed. And she was definitely intent upon fattening him up with some of the best chocolate chip cookies he had ever encountered.

Conan also kept his eye out for the villains Kid had said were stalking him. And now that he knew there probably were, he saw signs everywhere. He started to wonder if hanging out with Kuroba Kaito suddenly had painted an even bigger target on his back, but Kaito assured him that according to the villains Kuroba Kaito was a dead end.

Somehow, that didn't reassure him.

Unfortunately the week culminated in frustration as the damned stone was still unscratched. Third hardest natural gemstone Conan's ass. Conan and Kaito finally collapsed on the old, slightly smelly couch in the lair (Conan didn't bother to wonder how it had made it in there) after the latest failed attempt, involving concrete, a small crane, and dropping said concrete. "This is hopeless," he professed.

"Nothing's hopeless," Kaito protested. "We just haven't found the right hope yet."

"Kid, we've just tried setting it on top of a ton of concrete, and then dropping another ton of concrete on top of it. That didn't work, and frankly I'm out of ideas."

Kaito looked over at Conan. "Should you really be calling me 'kid'?"

"S'pose not."

Kaito sighed. "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. So far we've mostly tried just crushing it with increasingly heavy objects."

"Maybe we should build a time machine, go back in time, and get a dinosaur to step on it," Conan suggested mostly sarcastically.

"No, no. Maybe we should try something that doesn't involve crushing."

"We did. That was playing with chemicals day. The highly potent acid didn't even work."

Kaito's mother poked her head in. "Are you boys doing all right?"

"Define 'all right'." Kaito shot back.

His mother made a face. "Oh well. Aoko's on the phone by the way. Should I tell her you're busy?"

Kaito shook his head, getting up. "Nah, I'll get it."

Kaito's mother made room for him to leave the lair, then looked at Conan. "Can I get you anything Kudo-kun?"

Conan also shook his head. "No thank you Kuroba-san."

Meanwhile, outside the lair, Kaito had made it to the phone. "What's up, Aoko?"

_"Hi Kaito! Me and Hakuba-kun never made it to Tropical Land last week,"_ At this, Kaito caught a muttered 'damn murders'. _"I'm going to try again today and was wondering if you wanted to come this time."_

Kaito weighed his options. On one hand, he still had to destroy Pandora. On the other hand, he still hadn't figured out how and was fresh out of ideas. "Will Hakuba be there?"

_"I haven't called him yet. Should I?"_

She was asking him? "Nah, he's probably busy with something," he quickly said. "Ah, can I call you back in two seconds?"

_"Sure."_

Kaito hung up the phone and poked his head back in the lair. "Kudo! Aoko called to invite me to Tropical Land. Do you think we're done for the day?"

Conan leaned back on the couch and looked at the ceiling. "I'd rather keep working, but that wouldn't be productive in the slightest. We seem to be a good stopping point, having stopped already. Up to you."

Kaito eyed the shrunken detective for a moment. Then he raced back out of the lair and grabbed the phone. It picked up almost immediately, and he started speaking almost as soon as it did. "You know that kid with me last week? Conan? I'll be bringing him with if you don't mind."

_"Of course I wouldn't!"_

Kaito raced back into the lair again. "Get your shoes on."

Conan leveled a bored look at Kaito. "Why? Are you kicking me out?"

Kaito shook his head, grinning like a madman. "No. We're going to Tropical Land. I already told Aoko you're coming, so you've got no choice in the matter. Get your shoes on."

Conan glared. "Hate you"

Kaito pretended to blow a kiss. "Love you too, tantei-kun."

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In the end, it took probably five minutes for Kaito to find some money, find his coat, stuff the pockets with things Conan didn't want to think about lest his head explode (Wind-up toy soldiers? Really?), and get his own shoes on. Conan was tapping his feet waiting two minutes in.

Unfortunately for both parties involved, it was Inspector Nakamori who opened the door when Kaito rang the bell. "Hello Inspector!" Kaito hailed joyfully.

Gruff Ginzo just eyed them. "Kaito-kun? I didn't know you knew Edogawa-kun."

"Oh, we ran into each other at a heist, you know how I love those things, and we started arguing…"

Kaito went on, and Conan had to wonder: _was he thick?_ He seemed to know what he was doing though, as quickly into the monologue Inspector Nakamori turned his head around. "Aoko! Kaito-kun's here!"

"Coming!" There was a thumping sound as Nakamori Aoko barreled down the stairs. Once at the bottom she looked at Kaito and beamed widely. "Hi!" She started rummaging through a hall closet, finally emerging with some shoes. Ginzo left. Aoko slipped the shoes on and practically dragged Kaito out the door, Conan hurrying to follow.

"It's so great that you agreed to come! Whenever I'm alone with Hakuba-kun it seems like dead bodies start falling out of the sky!"

Conan had to admit: detectives did have that strange tendency.

Aoko turned her wide smile towards Conan. "Hi! We haven't properly met yet! I'm Nakamori Aoko. You're Edogawa Conan, aren't you? My dad thinks that one of these days, you're going to be the one to catch Kaito Kid." She winked. "When you do, kick him for me, okay?"

Conan almost told her that she could do it herself if she turned to the left. But that would just be cruel. "Nice to meet you, Aoko-neesan." He then sent a sarcastic glare secretly in Kaito's direction. Kaito had the good humor to look sheepish. Conan decided to run with it. "How about I tie him up and bring him to you so that you can unmask him and then beat him up?"

Aoko gave a thumbs-up. "Sounds like a plan!"

Kaito started wondering if this was really a good idea. Then he was distracted. "Aoko!" he whined. "I told you not to call him!"

Aoko waved it off. "You were bringing someone else, so I thought it would be fine. Besides, he'll be distracted by Akako-chan."

Conan followed their gaze. Walking down the sidewalk towards them was a blond whom he recognized as Hakuba Saguru, and a red-headed woman he didn't know. Hakuba looked like he couldn't decide whether to twitch uncontrollably at the girl's very presence, or start fawning awkwardly over her. Conan had to agree. She was… beautiful…

He shook his head to rid himself of the thought. Ran. He was in love with Ran. That was all.

"It's nice though…"

Aoko's words pulled Conan out of his musings. Kaito, who had previously been glaring at Hakuba, looked at her. "What?"

Aoko smiled innocently. "It's nice that you're the only guy in the school that's not in love with Akako-chan! That is, if it had to be anyone, I'd rather it be you."

Kaito's face remained impassive. But Conan knew Kaito Kid, and knew that that was only a front. Even when it looked like escape was impossible, Kid had still given him that manic grin, leading Conan to wonder what he had missed in his trap, even though in reality he hadn't missed anything.

Conan quickly wondered if anything could possibly be more romantically pathetic.

Aoko waved at the two of them. "Akako-chan! Hakuba-kun!"

Hakuba waved back, while Akako lifted her hand to her mouth to laugh daintily. Aoko started dragging Kaito in their direction, leaving Conan once again to try and keep up. "I'm so glad you two could come!"

"Always glad to be of service," Hakuba replied smoothly. He then bent over and looked at Conan accusingly. "You're watching Conan-kun again, Kuroba? You must be pretty chummy with Mouri-san."

"We met at a heist," Kaito insisted, keeping to the half lie he'd told Inspector Nakamori.

"Oh I have no doubt about that."

There were practically lightning bolts in the air. Aoko glared at the two of them. "Mou, Hakuba-kun, can't you leave that alone? Kaito's not Kid, okay?"

Akako laughed again. Hakuba shrugged. "As you wish."

Akako then looked at Conan, and smiled. He found he had a hard time keeping Ran's face in his mind. "Kaito-kun, since you seem to be in charge of him at the moment, why don't you introduce us?"

Kaito scratched the back of his neck. "Ah, right. Conan-kun, this is Koizumi Akako. Akako-chan, this is Edogawa Conan."

Akako knelt down and gently ruffled his hair. "Ah, Edogawa-kun. You must be the great nemesis. You have the aggressiveness of the devil."

"N-nice to meet you, Koizumi-neesan," Conan stuttered.

"Hey, Akako-chan, don't scare him," Kaito protested.

Aoko put her hands on her hips. "Okay, we're all acquainted now! Let's go!"

And that was how Conan found himself going to Tropical Land with the oddest mish-mash of characters he'd ever encountered. And he'd encountered quite a few odd people in his life.

By the time they'd gotten to Tropical Land, Conan had had ample time to observe the four teenagers and how they acted around each other. Hakuba, as he'd already figured out, knew that Kaito was Kid. Aoko conversely was convinced he wasn't, though there was the tiniest hint of denial in her eyes. Conan would know, as he'd seen that same look on Ran's face a small handful of times.

At any rate, the two boys wouldn't stop arguing, and Aoko always got mad when the topic strayed to Kid (which it did often). Conan tried to stay out of it, but Hakuba was equally convinced that he should be included, which led to Conan wondering how long it would take before Hakuba figured out that Conan knew as well. Fortunately, Koizumi seemed to be on Conan's side, constantly asking Hakuba what Conan would know about Kid. At which point, strangely enough, Hakuba would almost shut down, and the arguing would cease for at least a minute or two.

Then again, whenever Koizumi spoke to Conan _he_ felt like shutting down. It was only Ran's face implanted firmly in his mind that kept him coherent. There was this alien urge to see to her every desire, an urge that was only curtailed by thinking of Ran.

Basically, Koizumi terrified him for no reason. And the fact that he shouldn't be terrified of her at all terrified him even more.

Honestly, Conan didn't know how he made it to Tropical Land in one piece.

Once they got to Tropical Land, things cooled down a bit. Aoko was the driving force of the group, running around and deciding what to do next. She occasionally asked Conan what he wanted to do, but he always told her to pick, adding that whatever she chose was really fun. He was definitely in her good graces almost right away. As opposed to Kaito and Hakuba, who seemed to be fighting over her, each trying to interfere with the other's conversation.

Next time Conan and Kaito were alone, he was going to tease him mercilessly over that. The thief and the detective, fighting over the inspector's daughter.

Koizumi didn't say much. Instead, her eyes seemed to be busy boring into the back of Conan's head. He almost sighed in relief whenever she excused herself to go do something else.

It wasn't until the ferris wheel that something out of the ordinary happened. And by out of the ordinary, the narrator means potentially lethal.

They were just passing the top when it happened. Kaito had been looking out the window, watching the people below. He suddenly leapt for Aoko looking out the window on the other side, shouting, "Get down!"

No sooner had Conan hit the ground than the window Kaito had been leaning against shattered, and something hit the ceiling. The occupants of the car started exclaiming things all at once.

"What the hell was that?"

"What's going on?"

"Kaito-kun, I warned you!"

This last one came from Akako, who had quickly stood up after it was over. "I warned you!" she repeated.

"Akako-chan, what are you doing?" Kaito demanded.

Conan and Hakuba's eyes had met, and together they looked to the ceiling. Lodged neatly there was a bullet. Conan started to stand up, about to scan the crowd and look for a sniper. A hand grabbed his jacket and yanked him back down.

"Don't you dare," Kaito said, deadly serious.

"Kuroba, could it-"

"Don't waste your breath Hakuba, I'm not going to answer."

"Not such a dead end," Akako said mysteriously. "Yet."

Kaito's earlier words came back to Conan. _"…Kuroba Kaito is a dead end."_ It occurred to him in a second what Koizumi was talking about, though the identical choice of words bothered him. His eyes met with Kaito's, and what he saw in them he didn't like.

Aoko grabbed Kaito's hand. "Kaito, what's going on?"

"I have to go," was all he said.

The ferris wheel operator was just as surprised as everyone else when he saw the mess. Kaito picked Conan up and swung him on to his back. "I'm going home now."

"Kaito, wait-"

Kaito looked at Hakuba as he started to back away. "Make sure she gets home safely Hakuba."

Hakuba nodded. "Will do."

"Kaito!"

Kaito was already running, Conan attached firmly to his back. And hoping beyond hope that the sniper was gone.

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**Fans of Magic Kaito may remember that Akako has this spell-thing going where all the men in the world are her slaves (except Kaito, but that's a different story entirely). This rarely shows up in fanfiction. This is my slight attempt to rectify that.**

**AANNDD this is the part where things start to go to pot. Reviews please!**


	3. Sniper

**Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito.**

**Wow! Sorry this took so long! My computer was being... my computer, and then there was a temporary gain of writer's block for this story because I lost a bit and I didn't feel like rewriting it. But I hope this chapter makes up for the wait.**

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Kaito ran as fast as he could down the sidewalk, taking as many back alley shortcuts as he could find. With every sudden veer Conan's hands gripped his shirt tighter. Finally they turned onto Kaito's street. When they got close enough to his house, they could see clearly that the front door was hanging open. The sight that met them from the porch was not pleasant.

The front hall was a mess. The closet doors were open, their contents splayed all over the ground. A few coats even had their pockets still inside out. The potted plant had been smashed, the dirt intermingling with the shoes.

Kaito felt Conan jump down from his back as he slowly walked in his house, gazing in awe at the destruction. "Mom! Mom!" Such was his worry that he barely noticed Conan dashing up the stairs. He rushed into the living room, still calling. "Mom!" Sighing, he started tidying up.

Conan returned almost immediately. "It's-" Kaito cut him off, shushing him. Conan nodded, and some of the tension eased from Kaito's frame.

"Let's see if we can find a note or something." Conan nodded again, and started to help him tidy up.

A slightly cleaner living room revealed no notes, so they moved to the kitchen. It was even more of a disaster than the front hall. Cupboard doors were open and their contents thrown to the ground. Two of the doors were even ripped from their hinges. The kitchen table had been overturned and the stacks of paper on top now covered the ground like very misshapen snow. Kaito and Conan each let out a sigh, looked at each other, and set to work.

Kaito made his priority getting the perishables back into the fridge, while Conan went to work on the snow. Kaito was just putting what was left of the eggs back in the fridge when Conan let out a whoop.

"Found something!"

Kaito ripped the small piece of paper out of Conan's hand. It was a handwritten note, scribbled hastily on a ripped piece of notepaper. _Gone shopping. I'll be home in time for dinner. Mom_.

Kaito made to reach for the phone, but Conan stopped him and held out his cell instead. Kaito nodded, acknowledging a good idea when he saw one. He quickly punched in his mom's cell phone number. It rang three times, Kaito getting more worried with every ring. Finally it picked up. _"Hello?"_

"Mom!" Kaito's face lit up. "Hi! Where are you?"

_"Just shopping. Did you get my note?"_

"Yeah Mom, somehow. The table is a mess. What are we having for dinner?"

_"What would you like?"_

"You're asking me? How about fish? A really nice big juicy fish?"

_"A really big fish?"_

"Yep!"

_"I think I can do that. Goodbye."_

"Bye, Mom." Kaito hung up.

Conan rounded on Kaito the second he did. "A _fish?_ Your house has been ransacked and you just had a casual conversation with your mom about having fish for dinner?"

Kaito handed the phone back to Conan. "Trust me, Conan-kun," he assured, using the detective's small name just in case of listening devices. "If I'm asking for fish, she knows something's up. As we speak she's probably making a beeline for the airport."

Conan nodded. "Well, I suppose that's something."

They spent another two hours cleaning up Kaito's house. Whoever had ransacked it (Kaito seemed to have a pretty good idea, but he wouldn't tell Conan) had done a really thorough job. It was a miracle really that they hadn't discovered the room behind the portrait. When two hours passed though, Conan realized that if he stayed much longer Ran would begin to worry. He excused himself, asking if he should come again tomorrow. Kaito had smiled sadly and said that wasn't necessary. Conan was definitely popping up again tomorrow.

He didn't get that chance.

The next morning, there was a heist note from Kid. The news came on while Conan was eating breakfast, nearly causing him to spray his oatmeal all over the table. The riddle was simple, Kid obviously being distracted by too many other things to come up with anything too complex. Kid was going after the Crying Pearl, which was being shown on the top floor of the Haido City Hotel. Conan almost winced when he figured that out, remembering what had happened last time he was there. So as soon as he was done eating breakfast, he excused himself, grabbed his pack, and ran off to Professor Agasa's.

Haibara was waiting for him at the door. "I suppose you've figured out the riddle already?" she asked, following him as he dumped his pack on the ground.

He nodded. "Yeah. Where's the Professor?"

Just at that moment, Agasa poked his head out of the stairs to the basement lab. "Ah, Shinichi-kun! I thought I heard the door open. Did you hear about Kid's next heist?"

He nodded again. "Uh-huh. Professor, I need you to find a phone number for Hakuba Saguru for me."

"You seem worried." Ai quipped. "You've been being awful secretive as of late too. Do you know something we don't?"

"Nothing that pertains to the case," Conan answered as he ruffled through his bag. His face became one of surprise when his hands grasped something hard. He pulled it out. It was Pandora.

Ai smirked. "You sure about that? Or are you doing a job on the side?"

Conan turned Pandora over. A note was taped to it. _Tantei-kun: It's not safe anymore. Time for Plan B. It must never see the light of day again. Your friendly neighborhood phantom thief._ "Professor," Conan said, his voice steely. "I need that phone number five minutes ago. I'll be right back."

He shoved Pandora back into his backpack and ran back out the door before the Professor or Haibara could protest. He didn't go far though, only to his own house next door. If Kid wanted him to hide Pandora, then he would hide Pandora. Simple as that. And then he would go the heist and try to talk him out of whatever harebrained scheme he had come up with on his own.

When he returned to the Professor's, Agasa had a piece of paper with a cell number scribbled on it. "Here's Hakuba Saguru's phone number, though I do expect an explanation."

"I do too," Haibara said. "After all, you just pulled Kaito Kid's late heist out of your backpack and did not call Inspector Nakamori. That is cause for concern, especially considering your recent evasiveness."

Conan sighed as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. Now I'm going to kind of break that promise. I'd rather not break it any more. He's an okay guy actually."

"You've been hanging out with Kaito Kid," Haibara accused.

"He asked me for help on something, okay? Now stop bothering me about it." Conan dialed in Hakuba's number. The phone rang three times before it was picked up.

_"Hakuba Saguru speaking."_

"Hakuba-niisan? It's Edogawa Conan. Can I talk to you about the heist?"

Conan could practically _hear_ the smirk on the other end. _"You mean you want to tell me how much you know without implicating Kuroba in any way?"_

"I don't know what you're talking about," Conan said, going for the innocent little kid voice.

_"Listen, Edogawa-kun. Something's up. I know it, Inspector Nakamori knows it, and the entire Taskforce knows it. The last heist hasn't been returned yet, the heist note is distressingly easy to figure out, and the Kuroba family has apparently gone on a sudden trip without telling anyone. Now, are you going to tell me what's going on or not? Kuroba doesn't even babysit, so don't even try wriggling out of this one. I want to know what's going on behind my back _before_ everything goes to pot."_

Little did Hakuba know that this was what Conan had more or less been thinking of all along. "When will you be at the hotel?"

_"Probably about an hour before the heist."_

"I'll be there," Conan said. "And you're quite right: if my hunch is correct, we're all in for a rough night. Every single one of us."

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True to his word, Conan arrived at the hotel an hour before the heist was scheduled via skateboard. Hakuba Saguru was waiting for him outside. "Your timing is perfect. I just got here," he said.

"Now if only we're as lucky in other ventures of the night," Conan replied. "Now let's get inside; we need to find a place where we won't be overheard."

"I know just the place." Conan followed Hakuba into the hotel. Hakuba led him to an elevator and pressed the button for the floor under where the Crying Pearl was located. "The two top floors have been cleared for the heist. We shouldn't run into anybody there if we go into a room."

"You have a key card?" Conan asked.

Hakuba pulled a key card out of his pocket. "All of the officers here have been supplied with a master key card. I managed to get one as well."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Hakuba made for the closest door, but Conan stopped him. "A random room would be better."

A frown temporarily marred Hakuba's face, but he followed Conan's advice. They picked a nondescript door in the middle of the hallway and Hakuba slipped his key card in. The LED turned green and he pushed the door open, holding it there for Conan. He shut the door behind them and walked over to a bed. He sat down, folding his arms. "Now spill it. What have you been doing with Kuroba, and what can I expect tonight?"

Conan wandered around the room, his eyes catching discrepancies as he talked. "As you've probably figured out already, Kid's been looking for something. That last heist was it. Unfortunately, someone else was also looking for it. And not the-" Conan stopped, having knelt to the ground and lifted up the fabric covering underneath the bed. "Hakuba, these rooms are all supposed to be empty, right?"

"Yes, they are," Hakuba replied, coming over to kneel next to Conan. "Why, what have you found?"

Conan pulled a white latex glove from his pocket and slipped it on. Out from under the bed he pulled a long skinny case. "This." A second latex glove covered his other hand and he moved to look closer. "I don't see any telltales." He reached forward and flicked open the latches. Slowly he lifted the lid, keeping an eye out for anything that might be a booby trap.

The case contained a high-powered sniper rifle.

Hakuba's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "We should get out of here."

"Yeah," Conan agreed, shutting the case. "That would be a good idea."

Hakuba's hand was inches from picking up the case to bring to Inspector Nakamori when something outside the room hit the door. There was the sound of muffled swearing. Conan's eyes met with Hakuba's, and he shoved the case back under the bed. Hakuba grabbed Conan's arm and started dragging him in the direction of the bathroom. In the bathroom Conan started casting around for a hiding place. He could do under the counter easily, but Hakuba was much larger than him.

"Shower curtain," Hakuba hissed in his ear. Conan didn't have any better ideas so he went along with it. With luck, their unknown sniper wouldn't even give the bathroom a passing glance. They both stood in the bathtub and Hakuba pulled the shower curtain out a little to cover them. And just in time as they heard the door open.

A voice was grumbling. "Fucking cheap key card. Never fucking works." Heavy-booted feet walked across the carpet, getting closer. Conan's breathing suddenly sounded like a howling wind. There was the slightest of creaks – the bathroom door – and then it stopped. "Hello... Yeah, it's me boss."

Saved by the phone. The one-sided conversation went on. "I managed to get in okay, I don't think anyone saw me... Okay, I know that nobody saw me. I'm prepared to find out what Kid did with the Christmas Stone... I agree with you. There's only one reason he would keep it this long... Yes sir. I understand the logic behind that. If he hasn't destroyed it yet, then there's no reason to give him more time to try to do so, even if he could tell us where it is... Boss, I've been chasing Kid for a long time now. He's never going to talk... Fine, I'll try. Either way, he'll be dead by morning. You have my word."

There was a beep signaling the end of the conversation. Conan didn't dare move, hoping that the sniper would forget his earlier intention to enter the bathroom.

"Argh, that took too long. I've got no time left." To Conan's relief the boots made their way away from the bathroom door. He heard the sounds of the case being pulled out from under the bed, and the latches being undone.

Conan and Hakuba must have been standing there in the bathtub for fifteen minutes, listening to the sniper prepare his gun. After what seemed like an eternity there was finally the sound of the heavy boots clomping across the room and out the door. The sound it made when it shut resounded throughout the suite.

Conan slowly looked up at Hakuba. The blond detective was trembling from a combination of fear and fury. "Why didn't he _trust_ me?" he ground out.

"Kid has something to hold above my head," Conan replied, "so he didn't feel that telling me his problems was going to compromise him. He has nothing on you though. Come on, I get the feeling we shouldn't hang around here."

The two of them exited the bathroom, looking around wildly. Conan quickly poked his head under the bed; the case was gone. Hakuba moved over to the door and looked out the peephole. "All clear. Let's go."

The two of them nearly ran down the hall to the elevators, only stopping when the doors were safely shut behind them. Hakuba pushed the button for the next floor up. "We need to stop this heist."

Conan nodded, racking his brains for how. He hadn't thought of anything by the time the doors opened on the top floor. Inspector Nakamori caught sight of them immediately. "Ah, Hakuba-kun! And the brat from Mouri's place. Do they know you're here?" he asked Conan, less than amused by his presence.

Conan nodded, pulling out a little kid grin. "Yeah!" he half-lied. Ran had probably guessed by now.

Hakuba was quick to start talking. "More to the point Inspector-"

He was cut off by a sharp pain in the ankle courtesy of Conan. "What, Hakuba-kun?" Inspector Nakamori asked.

Hakuba raised his hands up. "Oh, never mind." He then dragged Conan away. As soon as they were out of earshot of everyone else, he hissed, "The Inspector can help us! He can order the officers to protect Kid instead of capture him!"

"No!" Conan hissed back. "We can't tell him! If Kid is allowed to reach the roof, what's to protect him under the open sky? More than that, if that sniper starts to think something's up then we run the risk of ending up in a bloodbath!"

"What, so you expect the two of us to be able to protect Kid on our own?" Hakuba asked, folding his arms.

"We have no choice. Besides, we just need to keep him from leaving the building. Which will be hard enough."

"Why?" Hakuba asked, becoming worried.

Conan sighed. "He knows it's practically a suicide mission."

Hakuba ran his fingers through his hair. "Shit. So what do we do?"

Conan surveyed the large room, in the center of which was an open display with the Crying Pearl displayed on it. Various officers milled around the room. Kid could be disguised as any one of them at this moment.

Brain wave. "Hakuba-niisan, are you any good at sleight of hand?"

"A little, I..." Hakuba's voice trailed off as he realized what Conan had asked him. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking... You'd better be joking... You're not joking," he said resignedly as he realized that no, Conan was not joking. "You want me to steal it before Kid can." Conan nodded. Hakuba waved his arm in a general sweep of the area. "There are dozens of officers here and all on high alert. There's no way I could get away with that."

Conan reached into his pocket and pulled out something small and white. "With this you might be able to." It was a copy of the Crying Pearl. "I got a chemist friend of mine to whip this up. It wouldn't withstand any sort of scrutiny at all, but it would buy you enough time to get away. All you'd have to do is ask to see the pearl and manage to switch them while doing so."

Hakuba nodded. "I think I would be able to do that. But then what would I do? Go hide in a room and wait for Kid to come find me, and then keep him there somehow?"

Conan shook his head. "No. That's got too high a rate of failure. And I can't believe I'm even suggesting this, but I can't think of anything else."

"What?"

"The roof," Conan said. "You go to the roof." He showed Hakuba his watch, flipping out the targeting. "There's a stun gun in here that knocks most people out for fifteen to thirty minutes. I've only had it fail twice, and one of those times it still worked for about two. That's enough time to get handcuffs on someone. The sniper indicated that he'll try to talk to Kid before killing him. You need to go to the roof and lure him out. Talk to him, distract him, and pretend to be Kid in disguise. And then I'll get him with this. We can't detain Kid; that's a tried and true fact. But we can do something about the sniper."

Hakuba took the fake pearl from Conan. "You're right, that is a risky idea. But you're also right that interfering with the sniper instead of Kid is our best bet."

Conan looked at his watch, the targeting now down. "We've got half an hour until the heist is scheduled. We don't want to do it too soon, or the sniper will be suspicious. Too late though, and Kid shows up. In fifteen minutes should be about good." He looked back up at Hakuba. "See you on the roof."

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**Reviews, as always, are highly appreciated. *Runs off to do the "Ubuntu is so fast!" happy dance***


	4. Incident

**Disclaimer: Be glad that I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito. Be very, very glad.**

**I have nothing to say. Absolutely nothing.**

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Saguru speedily moved up the stairs to the roof, the weight in his pocket reminding him of his dangerous task. He couldn't believe he'd agreed to this plan. Nor could he believe that he'd just gotten away with the first part of it. The officer had been all too eager to let him look at the pearl, and Saguru was making notes in his head to jot down at a later date on what the officers surrounding him had done wrong. Really, perhaps they would have caught Kid already if he'd tried something like this earlier.

But that wasn't relevant at the moment. What was relevant was pretending to be Kid so that he could catch a sniper, a criminal much more dangerous than Kid. Saguru reached for the door handle to the roof, then stopped and took a deep breath. Kid. He must be Kid. What did Kid do? Kid always had that god awful smirk on his face, no matter how sure you were of victory. Saguru shifted his face into a couple different looks, then settled on one. That would have to do. He opened the door, unsure of what he would find.

Nothing. There wasn't a soul in sight. Saguru almost stopped, but remembered to think like Kid. Kid always stood on the edge of the roof. From the edge of the roof he could usually escape, and even if he couldn't it usually made Saguru think he could. Careful to keep the look in place, Saguru strode purposely to the edge of the roof. Not too close because he couldn't fly like some others, but close enough that he didn't look like he was scared of heights.

(Because really, Saguru was terrified. Even if a shot wasn't fatal, it would still probably be enough to push him off the edge, and that would be.)

But now what? Kid was waiting for a sniper to come kill slash talk to him, what would he do? Before enough time passed that the sniper would be suspicious, Saguru pulled Kid's way of speaking to the front of his mind and hoped that he didn't give himself away. "I know you're there."

He heard the footsteps come up behind him. "I didn't expect anything less."

Saguru turned around, keeping the smirk in place. The man behind him was grinning as well, though his was the cold smile of a killer who enjoyed his work. He was dressed all in black, and had a long, handlebar mustache the likes of which Saguru had never seen before outside of a western. He was carrying a small handgun with a silencer, and this was pointed directly at Saguru. "Of course you didn't," Saguru replied, waiting for the sniper to make the first move. Hopefully Edogawa would knock him out very, very soon.

"What are you doing here?" the sniper asked.

Saguru chuckled, hopefully not nervously. "You insult me. I sent the note, and here I am as promised."

The gun went off, the small _phhht_ of the silencer and the burning on Saguru's cheek making it known. He stumbled slightly, glancing nervously at the edge, and raised his hand to feel a small trickle of blood. "You're not Kid," the sniper said, a statement, not a question.

Saguru kept the smirk in place. Never let them see you bleed, figuratively if not literally. Perhaps he could still convince him. Where was Edogawa anyway? "Now that's the best joke I've heard all day. Of course I'm Kid."

The sniper's smile grew wider. "Kid isn't supposed to steal the Crying Pearl for another ten or so minutes. And that's not a mask, otherwise there wouldn't be blood. So why, Detective, are you trying to convince me that you're Kid?"

Where the hell was Edogawa? This was his plan, why the hell wasn't he doing his part? In the corner of his eye he saw the door handle turn. Edogawa had said he'd wait on the roof. Then who...

Kaito Kid, in all his brilliantly white glory, strode from the opening. "Now this is interesting," he proclaimed. "Very interesting indeed."

The sniper kept his gun trained on Saguru, but his head turned to face Kid. "And here he is, the man of the hour. Would you believe that this detective was trying to convince me he was you? He insults the intelligence of us criminals."

"Don't you dare lump me in with the same lot as you," Kid snarled, voice of steel.

Saguru hoped that Edogawa, wherever the hell he was, could see his plan dying a horrible shooty death. The sniper's grin took up his whole face now. "You know Kaito, I was just going to interrogate you then kill you, but we both know how well that would have worked out. Guess what? Now I've got a hostage."

"It took you long enough. Makes me wonder how you got this far in the first place, Snake."

The sniper, Snake apparently, twitched at that. "I don't quite remember your policy. What is it again? Oh, I know. Nobody gets hurt. Now spill, or somebody will."

"You forgot to ask any questions."

"Okay then. Where is Pandora?"

Kid glared, and if looks could kill, Snake would drop dead in a second. "In a million pieces, her ashes scattered somewhere you'll never find them."

The gun fired again, and Saguru felt his other cheek burn. "Let's try this again, or I shoot lower. Where is Pandora?"

Kid remained silent, glaring. Saguru decided to try and buy some time. "If my life is on the line here, can I at least know why?"

Snake looked back at him. "Why? You want to know why? No you don't. Because then I'd have to kill you for knowing too much."

"You're going to kill both of us anyway," Saguru shot back, knowing it was true.

Kid picked up on it. "Yeah Snake. If we're both going to die anyway, why should either of us open our mouths?"

Snake opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off. "Snake! Drop the gun!"

Edogawa Conan had burst from the other side of the cube that was the way back into the building. A trickle of blood coming from his scalp and chafing at his wrists indicated where he'd been while his plan was getting shot to hell. "Drop the gun!" he repeated.

Snake outright laughed at that. "There are three of you, none of you are armed, and you want me to drop the gun? You really are naïve little boy."

Conan flipped up the targeting on his watch. "You're the naïve one. This watch has a stun gun set inside of it that'll knock you out in a second. Put the gun down."

The two of them stared at each other for what felt like minutes, Kid and Saguru watching them both to see who would act first. It was Snake.

The sniper spun around, bringing the gun with him. He managed to fire off four shots before the stun dart hit him. Four pools of red grew on Kid's jacket, and the thief fell, almost in slow motion.

"Handcuffs!" Conan shouted, sprinting for Snake. Saguru fished his handcuffs out of his pocket and threw them to Conan as he rushed towards Kid. The hat had fallen off in the fall, and the monocle was starting to slip. Kuroba Kaito's face, looking younger than he had ever seen it, lay there.

Saguru pulled his head onto his lap and the monocle fell off also, the muscles having relaxed too much to hold it. "No no _no!_" he shouted. "We were supposed to save you!" Clumsily, he slipped his fingers against Kaito's pulse. It beat once... then twice... then no matter how long Saguru waited, it didn't beat again.

Conan ran over after he had handcuffed Snake and checked him for more guns. The look on Saguru's face told him more than he had ever wanted to know. He pulled his glasses from his face and held them almost tightly enough to break them. "To a good person," he said. Saguru nodded, all that he could do.

Conan kneeled and reached into Kaito's jacket, trying to avoid the blood but getting a little bit on himself anyway. He pulled out a radio, one that he guessed would be able to reach Inspector Nakamori's. He flipped it on. "Inspector Nakamori?" he asked, voice shaking somewhat.

_"Conan-kun, how did you get a radio?"_ the Inspector demanded, oblivious.

Saguru reached over and took the radio from him. "Inspector, we need... you should..."

_"Hakuba-kun? Spit it out already."_

Saguru paused, taking a deep breath. "You need to come to the roof. Kaito Kid is dead, and we have a sniper who goes by the name of Snake awaiting arrest."

There was silence on the other end of the line. Conan took the radio back. "Inspector?"

_"I... you're sure? Of course you're sure... I'll be up there soon with a few boys. Wait there."_ The radio went dead.

Conan and Saguru didn't have it in them to move. So when Inspector Nakamori, followed by a few policemen, opened the door to see the scene, they were exactly where they had been when they had radioed him. Nakamori took a few steps forward, stopped, and took a few more. "Oh my god," he breathed out as he caught sight of Kid's face. The police behind him all took off their hats in respect, most of them recognizing Kaito.

Conan, before any of them could notice the inconsistency, slipped his glasses back on. He pointed at where Snake's prone form lay. "That man is to be arrested for the murders of Kaito Kid both junior and senior, as well as many other people."

The Inspector knelt before Kaito, nodding. Most of the officers he'd brought with him approached Snake and hauled him up to take him away. After a few moments, one of the men left tapped the Inspector on the shoulder. "Sir? We need to take the body away."

Inspector Nakamori glanced up and saw that two officers had brought up a stretcher and body bag. "Oh... yes, I... yes. You do that." He stood up and moved out of the way, Saguru and Conan following suit, so that the officers could put Kaito in the bag.

The zipper was about to cover Kaito's face when Conan said quietly, "Wait." He knelt and picked up the monocle. He placed it inside the bag, the four-leaf clover charm jangling slightly. No one said anything, and the zipper was pulled up the rest of the way.

The small group made their way down the stairs, as if a funeral march. First the two officers with the stretcher, then Inspector Nakamori, still looking shell-shocked. Saguru followed, clutching that ridiculous hat like it was about to fly away, and Conan after him, looking solemn.

When they exited the stairway into the display room, all of the officers took off their hats and looked at the ground. Conan glanced out on of the large windows and saw that a crowd of those awaiting Kid's appearance had gathered. He swallowed roughly.

The elevator ride, like the rest of the short but unbearably long trip, was completely silent. It was when the doors dinged open on the ground floor that noise finally registered. The hotel workers and a few travelers who could stand the distraction of the horde outside dropped what they were doing, like dominoes, as they caught sight of the small parade. There were whispered murmurs like, "Oh my god," and, "Did Kid kill someone?" If Conan could tell who had said that, he would have been throttling him in an instant.

It was the doors to the hotel that did them in. They were glass, see-through. A fan close to them caught sight of the movement, and pointed them out to her friend. Soon the crowd was pushing forward, and they almost couldn't get the door open because of the bodies. Once they were outside the crowd was pushing in on all sides, wanting to get a look. Finally a young woman ran right in front of Inspector Nakamori. "Kid-sama didn't kill them!" she pleaded, not knowing who was dead. "Kid-sama would never kill anyone! You can't pin this on Kid-sama!"

Nakamori stopped in his tracks, not saying anything. The crowd around them started shouting assent with the woman. Still, Nakamori didn't say anything. He just stood there.

"Kid doesn't kill!" Saguru snarled, waving the hat. "He would never harm a fly and we know it! Back off!"

The crowd went still, less from the words and more from what he was holding. That Hakuba Saguru was holding Kid's tophat rippled through the crowd. The woman who had shouted at Inspector Nakamori slowly backed away. The change was nearly instant. Finally, someone said something. "Kid-sama!" came out as a wail. Conan, in a moment of panic, wondered if the small convoy was about to get attacked on the miscontruance that the police had killed Kaito Kid.

But his fears were put to rest as the crowd parted, making clear the way to the waiting ambulance. They continued, and the stretcher was loaded into the ambulance, and it drove off, on its way to the morgue.

There was a police cruiser waiting. The driver got out. "Sir, shall I take you to Headquarters now?"

Inspector Nakamori gulped. He nodded, gesturing for Conan and Saguru to get in the back. They did so, and they sped off towards Headquarters to continue what had already been a very long night.

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**Don't go! It's not over yet!**

**I suppose it would be inviting cyber-pain to say anything about reviews, huh?**


	5. Repercussions

**Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito.**

**Second to last chapter! I'm almost done with the last chapter, so it should be up in a few days. Almost done with this fic. Pity. It's been a fun ride.**

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Conan and Saguru had commandeered two innocent desk chairs while Inspector Nakamori paced the room. They each held a cup of hot tea in their hands, but aside from switching hands every once and a while to avoid getting burnt the tea was ignored. "Inspector, you can't put it off any more," Saguru prodded.

The Inspector's eyes left the floor and looked at the two boys, more lost than any adult's eyes had a right to be. "Now?" he asked quietly. Saguru nodded. The Inspector breathed in, then out, and finally commandeered a third desk chair just in case his knees decided to give out. He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, fumbling slightly as he pulled up the number. Conan felt a pang of sympathy for him. Usually when a policeman was informing close relatives, the number wasn't in their phone book.

Nakamori grew paler as the phone rang. Then it picked up. _"Hello, Kuroba-san speaking."_

Inspector Nakamori gulped. "Kuroba-san?" he said quietly. "This is Inspector Nakamori down at the station."

_"Ah, Inspector! What are you doing calling so late?"_

"I think you know already," the Inspector replied, fishing.

_"I haven't a clue what you're talking about."_ Kaito's mother denied. _"Is it about Kaito? Did he get into trouble?"_

"Kuroba-san..." Inspector Nakamori started, but couldn't finish.

Kaito's mother picked up that something was wrong. _"Inspector, what is it? What's happened?"_

"I... I've got bad news."

_"You've arrested him, haven't you?"_ Kaito's mother asked, resigned.

"If only," the Inspector choked. "If only."

_"Inspector, __what happened__?"_

Pause. "He was shot. Kaito-kun's dead."

On the other end, the phone clattered to the floor.

It was retrieved, and the conversation continued for a few brief minutes. The beep of the line disconnecting was the final staccato of the trying call. Inspector Nakamori slipped the phone back into his pocket. "She says she's in Okinawa, but she'll come back as soon as she can." Conan and Saguru nodded. Weary, Inspector Nakamori looked at the floor. "Now, can one of you please, _please_ tell me what happened?" he pleaded, sounding broken.

Conan felt Saguru's eyes on him. "I've never been fully enlightened myself," the British detective said. "Edogawa-kun is the one with all the answers."

Conan was initially unsure if he could talk. But then his eyes met with Inspector Nakamori's lost gaze, and for a brief moment he felt the older man's pain. _What is going on?_ it asked. _Where did I go wrong?_ So Conan talked. He took a deep breath, and he talked. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Inspector turn on a tape recorder, so he would only have to do this once.

"Pandora. It all started with Pandora. Pandora is the name of a legend that, from where I'm standing, appears to be true. Kaito-niisan, in the guise of Kid, heard it from the man who shot him tonight. The legend says that there's a magical gemstone named Pandora which will cry tears of immortality when a certain volley comet passes, the cycle of that particular comet supposedly being around ten thousand years. The way to identify Pandora is to hold it under the moonlight. If this is done, then it will glow red. Kaito-niisan learned that the sniper known as Snake was after Pandora, and decided to find Pandora and destroy it before Snake got a hold of it. This is because, while finding out about the legend of Pandora, Kaito-niisan also learned that Snake killed his father, Kuroba Toichi."

Saguru frowned. "I've looked into that. Kuroba Toichi was killed in a stage accident, wasn't he?"

Inspector Nakamori nodded his agreement. Conan swallowed. "Apparently it was sabotage. Kuroba-san had been hired by Snake to find Pandora, but then he found out why Snake wanted it and turned against him. So Snake sabotaged his equipment. And then, the heist before this one, Kaito-niisan found Pandora. The fact that he was taking so long to return it made Snake suspicious and anxious, and so he tried harder than ever to find out who Kaito Kid was.

"Meanwhile, I entered the picture. Kaito-niisan had been having problems destroying Pandora, and thought I could help. I saw the red glow for myself, and found myself trying to help him after he explained the situation to me."

The Inspector frowned. "You? Why did he ask you for help?" The _Why didn't he ask me?_ remained unspoken.

Conan shrugged his most convincing shrug. "I don't know. I impressed him, I guess," he not completely lied. "Anyway, what matters is that he did ask me for help, and I helped him. Unfortunately we weren't able to destroy Pandora, no matter what we tried. If anything, this made me believe his story even more. And then," and at this he looked at Saguru, indicating that it was his turn to talk, "somehow we ended up taking a break at Tropical Land. This is when everything fell apart."

"You'll remember, Inspector," Saguru explained. "We were on the ferris wheel, the five of us. Edogawa-kun, Kuroba-kun, Koizumi-san, your daughter, and myself. That was when an unknown man shot at our car. And I'm betting that man was Snake."

"Kaito-niisan picked up that something was wrong immediately." Conan continued. "He had come to the conclusion that Snake had finally figured out his true identity. From what I gathered Snake had known the identity of the first Kaito Kid, so it didn't take a large leap of logic. He and I got back to his house to find it completely ransacked. Fortunately they hadn't found Pandora's hiding place. He let me help him clean up for a little while, but then he sent me home and told me not to come back." Conan left out the part where he had hidden Pandora. If that was on tape, then undoubtedly they would demand it back, and he had promised. "When I heard about the heist today, I contacted Hakuba-niisan as soon as I could."

Conan went silent, and stayed that way. Saguru took this as a sign that he could take it from there. "We met up," he started simply. "We went to an abandoned hotel room underneath the display room to discuss things. That was when we discovered that it wasn't quite as abandoned as we'd though. Edogawa-kun found a sniper rifle in a case under one of the beds." Inspector Nakamori's brow raised. Saguru nodded to show that he was telling the truth. "We were about to leave the room post-haste in case the owner came back, but we weren't quick enough. We hid behind the shower curtain and overheard Snake receiving orders from someone else on how to deal with Kid. Fortunately Snake left without finding us, otherwise..." Saguru trailed off, his hand unconsciously reaching for one of the bullet scratches on his cheeks.

His hand returned to his lap and he hurried on. "Anyway we fled from the room after Snake had left. We then concocted our own plan, but it went... wrong. I'm sure you can put together the rest."

Inspector Nakamori nodded, leaning back in his chair, subconsciously pushing the off button on the recorder. He took several deep breathes, and the lost look in his eyes faded somewhat. "Why?" he finally asked. "I've known him since he was a kid. Why didn't he ask me for help?" His hand tightened perceptibly on the armrest. "Why?"

"Inspector?" Conan said softly. "I think it's precisely that. I haven't known Kaito-niisan as a person long, but I think it was just that. You knew each other. He couldn't come to you because he knew that you hated Kid. You hated what he'd become. He respected you deeply, while at the same time he had to go behind your back to achieve justice. He probably felt very conflicted about not telling you, if that's any help."

The Inspector nodded again. He just kept sitting there, nodding.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. Inspector Nakamori hardly said anything, though Conan saw him slip away and make another phone call. A squad car was acquired to drive himself and Saguru home. Conan was dropped off first, and found Ran waiting for him at the door. She pulled him into a tight hug upon arrival.

"Oh Conan-kun!" she said, wiping her teary eyes. "I was so worried! The news didn't have any pictures but said they'd brought out a body bag, and the rumor was that Kid was dead but I couldn't be sure!"

"Ran-neechan, I'm okay," Conan assured. "I'm okay."

In the bathroom mirror after brushing his teeth, Conan slipped off his glasses and mussed up his hair. He tried a grin. A familiar face, albeit ten years younger, looked back at him. "Idiot," he murmured. "And I was looking forward to getting to know you outside of work too. Stupid idiot." He patted his hair back down and slipped his glasses back on before Ran could notice.

*****

Aoko slipped out of her shoes as she entered the empty house after going out with some friends. She wasn't surprised to see the light flashing on the answering machine. Undoubtedly her father was staying late at work again. She pushed the button to listen to the message.

Her father's voice rang tinny. _"Aoko... don't go to school tomorrow. I want to talk to you when I __get home. I might be a while, but... there are some things I need to tell you. I'll see you later. I love you, so much."_

Aoko frowned when the message ended. That wasn't her father's normal 'I'm staying late at work again' message. She considered calling his cell, but decided that whatever it was could wait until morning. She headed towards the kitchen with the thought of warming up some leftovers before bed. Aoko turned on the radio as well. The heist was probably over by now, but if she was lucky the news would still be talking about it and she might find out why her father was staying late this time.

_"...Still nothing's been confirmed, but several witnesses claim to have seen Hakuba-tantei carrying Kid's hat while walking next to the bodybag. At this point it seems very likely that Kaito Kid has performed his last trick."_

The tupperware container slipped from Aoko's hand and landed on the floor with a clatter, some rice bouncing out of it. Someone had died at the heist? Kid had probably died at the heist?

Aoko sat down on a chair, hard. That was a better reason for staying late at work than her father usually had. But what did he have to tell her? Did it have anything to do with the heist? Had the death merely shaken him and reminded him of his own mortality?

Was Kaito Kid someone she knew?

Aoko shook her head, smiling wryly. That was impossible. She couldn't know Kid. She didn't know anyone who would thieve and then return what they stole. But then again... someone who did that would probably keep that part of their personality very close to their chest, right?

_"There's no way that Kaito could be the Kaito Kid! Kaito promised to go on a date with me this Sunday!"_

Aoko clapped her hands over her ears to keep out the words even though they were inside her head, memories from not so long ago. Her father had suspected Kaito, so she'd forced him to go on a date with her during the heist. And it had worked. Her father had given it up. But then Hakuba-kun had started suspecting, and he wouldn't stop. Both of them, suspecting poor innocent Kaito.

But... it wouldn't hurt to call Kaito, right? Just to make sure he was okay? Aoko reached for the phone and quickly dialed Kaito's number. Yes. Just call and hear his voice, make sure he was okay. And undoubtedly he could tell her exactly what had happened at the heist. He was obsessed like that.

The phone rang. And rang. When it cut to the answering machine, Aoko hung up in disgust. Where were best friends when you needed them?

Where was Kaito?

Aoko, to distract herself from her thoughts, put the tupperware away without eating any of it and cleaned up the spilled rice. Perhaps a bedtime snack was not in order. Perhaps she should just go straight to bed.

Regardless, she slept very fitfully, dreaming of floating down a river past the Pyramids, a man in white standing at the top, drenched in blood, taunting her. He held a hangman's noose in his hand, dangling from which was Kaito. She screamed, trying to paddle to the bank of the river, but all she did was get washed away.

Aoko woke up early, drenched in sweat. She crawled out of bed and took a shower, trying to forget her nightmare. She reached for the phone to try calling Kaito again, but realized that if he was home he would chew her out for calling so early. She sighed, setting it back in the cradle. She would stop by his house on the way to school, like she always did.

No. That was wrong. Aoko remembered now. Her father had told her not to go to school today. That he had something to tell her instead. Aoko popped some toast in the toaster and brought the paper in. As she ate breakfast she scanned the paper for any news of the heist last night. It made the front page, _DEATH AT HEIST_ in big, bold letters. The reporters, or anyone for that matter, still hadn't been told who had died, but everyone was still assuming it was Kaito Kid. The picture was right there at the front, two officers carrying the body bag on the stretcher, her father following after, Hakuba-kun carrying Kid's hat, and trailing at the end was a little boy. Edogawa Conan, the one who'd been hanging out with Kaito recently, though she had known him by reputation long before that. The little boy who almost could, her father called him, almost could a whole lot more than the rest of them. The one that the newspapers had taken to calling 'Deathogawa'. Already the paper was pinning the death on the little boy's apparent curse.

Conan-kun had been hanging out with Kaito. Conan-kun brought death. Her father had something he wanted to tell her. Aoko grabbed the phone and dialed Kaito's number before she even knew what she was doing. When it cut to the answering machine, she threw it back into the cradle with such force that it bounced right back out again. "Pick up the phone, Bakaito!" she shouted.

The floor behind her creaked. "Aoko?"

Aoko whirled around. Her father had come home without her noticing, lost as she was in her thoughts. Her first assessment told her he looked terrible. Her second wasn't any better. She told him so. She knew something was terribly wrong when he didn't laugh at her bluntness, not even chuckle a little. "Dad, what's wrong?"

He gestured at the paper. "I take it you've heard the news?"

Aoko nodded, sitting back down in her chair. "Yeah. Was it really Kaito Kid who died?"

Her father nodded, also sitting down. "Yeah, yeah it was."

Aoko nodded, looking down at the picture on the front page. "Well... at least it was him. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but if someone had to die at least it was a criminal. Not someone innocent like Kaito." She looked back at her father, unshed tears saying _Please, please, tell me I'm right_.

Ginzo looked away, unable to meet her gaze anymore. "He had us all fooled," he said. "Every single one of us. And his stupid pride wouldn't let him ask us for help."

"No..." Aoko breathed. She was jumping to conclusions. It wasn't true. It wasn't.

Ginzo reached across the table and grabbed her hand. "Aoko... Kaito was Kaito Kid all along. And now... now he's dead."

"NOOO!!"

She slipped out of the chair, falling to the floor. She screamed over and over, not knowing what she said. She grabbed the phone from where it had fallen and shaky fingers hit buttons, his phone number, just to hear his voice, reassure herself that it was all lies. The phone was grasped by a larger hand and pulled out of hers, set on the table. Large arms wrapped themselves around her and rocked her as she sobbed, Truth penetrating her worn armor.

* * *

**One more chapter and we're done here. Highly appreciated, the reviews are. Even the ones that yell at me for killing Kaito.**


	6. Immortality

**Disclaimer: Don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito**

**Here she is folks!**

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In the end, the press never found out who Kaito Kid really was. All they were told was that he was dead, and that he was a minor so they weren't going to find out anything. A few smart journalists put this together with the eight-year hiatus and did some digging, but in the end all they had was speculation. Occasionally correct speculation, but still just speculation.

The funeral, surprisingly, was a large affair. Word had apparently circulated at the police station, and every member of the Taskforce past and present was there. So were Conan's parents, his real parents, something he was surprised to see. Ran was there to keep watch of Conan and wouldn't let go of his hand, thinking he needed comfort. It became the other way around when Ran realized that Kaito was the boy she'd mistaken for Shinichi, and Conan squeezed her hand. Conan could see Kaito's mother crying, and his heart went out to her. She had lost both her husband and her son to the same man. Justice was bittersweet.

And Aoko... Conan saw Aoko a little bit away from everyone else. She was crying, certainly, but not as a release. She was crying brokenly, as if she would never be the same again. Conan doubted that she would be. After all, she had never gotten to hear it from his own lips. Conan looked up at Ran. Hopefully, beggingly, the same would not happen to her.

And so one day, a few weeks after the funeral, Conan was wandering through his house, his real house, when something happened. Something strange, unexplainable, and frankly quite marvelous.

_Pssst! Kudo!_ a voice came from everywhere yet nowhere at once.

Conan stopped dead in his tracks. Then, smiling wryly, kept going. Anything with that voice had to be wishful thinking.

_Oh please, give me a break. You're ready to believe teens turning into kids, giant criminals organizations, just about every murder trick you can shake a stick at, hell, you believed everything I told you, and yet strangely familiar disembodied voices are too much?_

Conan stopped again, and this time he didn't start going again.

_That's better. Now pick up the stone!_

Conan looked to his left. On a small table rested a small box, the hiding place of Pandora. It was in plain sight of course, but he had read The Purloined Letter. Yes, Pandora was as safe there as she was in any other part of the house. Which was a very good thing, as he intended wholeheartedly to keep his promise to Kaito: not to let Pandora lead to any more deaths. No more completely unwarranted deaths of those who wanted immortality, those who wanted to keep the first group from getting immortality, and those caught in the crossfire.

Meanwhile, the disembodied voice grew impatient. _Kudo! This isn't rocket science! Pick up the damn sparkly rock already!_

Conan glared at thin air, hoping he didn't look too foolish. "Considering how much in over my head I'm feeling at the moment, it might as well be. How do I know Pandora won't... I don't know, explode in my face? Or something else that I don't want to even try and guess at?"

_I AM Pandora, I'm not going to explode all over you. Well, more trapped inside Pandora, but if __Pandora exploded I'm pretty sure I would feel the same effect._

One of Conan's eyebrows raised in disbelief. "You're trapped inside a rock? To be more specific, you're trapped inside a rock created by a specific geothermal event? Whoever you are, I've seen some weird things, but nothing near as weird as this."

Conan could hear the exasperation in the disembodied voice. _When I first told you about Pandora, didn't you bother to look up the legend? Pandora was created by the gods to be the most beautiful woman and gifted to some guy. This was in revenge for something the humans did, it might have been stealing fire. Anyway, Pandora was given both insatiable curiosity and a box which she was told never to open. Naturally, she opened it. She let out all the ills of the world, but closed the lid before Hope escaped. I suppose I would be Hope, I think._

"Who are you?" Conan demanded, though he had an inkling.

_Kaito-niisan, tantei-kun. Now would you please, please pick up Pandora?_

Conan sighed. "Fine." Hesitating slightly, he reached out and undid the latch on the box. He lifted the lid and pulled out a clump of dark blue velvet. Slowly, he unrolled the velvet and let it fall over his hand. Pandora, no longer glowing brightly, glinted softly.

Conan looked up and got the surprise of his life. Kuroba Kaito… no, Kaito Kid was standing in front of him, every detail perfect, right down to the clover hanging from the monocle. The only difference was that the young thief was more or less monochromatic, with a slightly blue hue. That and the faint outline of furniture could be seen on the other side.

But all the other details were there, up to and including the bloodstained clothing and the four small bullet holes in his chest. Conan bit his lip and tried not to look away, the familiarity making it less bearable then most other murders.

Kaito seemed to catch his flinch. _"It's okay. Don't worry about it."_ Now that Conan could see his lips moving the voice seemed less disembodied, but it still came from both everywhere and nowhere at once.

"But… how?" he finally asked.

_"Pandora."_ Kaito answered. _"That red glow, the glow that isn't showing up now? I was right, in a way. It was a reaction to it being held to the moonlight. It meant that someone on the gem's hit list, so to speak, was still alive. Me. By holding it to the moonlight, I indicated to the gem that I wanted immortality. I didn't really, but Pandora didn't know that. It just knew that the person that was holding it to the moonlight was to be given immortality when they died. Immortality trapped within the gem itself, as a ghost, unable to speak or be seen. The very essence of be careful what you wish for."_

"But you're talking to me now," Conan pointed out. "And I can see you."

_"Only those that I knew in life can hear or see me. And you can only hear me when you're near Pandora, and see me when you're holding it. I hadn't quite figured out how when you first put Pandora here, so I couldn't contact you then. It's been getting sort of frustrating waiting for you to show."_

"Sorry. I've been… a bit busy."

Kaito's look softened. _"I can guess. The Inspector's really mad, isn't he?"  
_

Conan shook his head, almost laughing now that it was all over. "Kuroba, you are an impossible thing. You are probably the only being in life or death that has ever been able to shock him speechless. Don't worry. I've explained most of it. Not all of it of course, but most of it. He's accepted it, sort of. He got a search warrant for your house though. I couldn't tell him where Pandora was, and he naturally thinks it's still in your house somewhere."

Kaito sighed. _"Ah well. We all make compromises. It could have ended worse, I suppose."_

"How could this possibly have ended worse?" Conan asked, looking pointedly at the ghost of Kaito.

_"I could be dead dead, and not just sort of dead. Besides, I'm not completely alone in here."_

Conan frowned. "Not alone?"

_"What, don't tell me you think I'm the only person to ever fall for this? If I was then there wouldn't be a legend in the first place. No, there's a small handful of us in here. While waiting for you I've been busy explaining how the world's changed since 1912."_

"Ah," Conan said, nodding.

_"Hey, Kudo?"_ The ghost looked sheepish.

"Yeah?"

_"Do you... do you suppose you could do me a favor?"_

Conan sighed exasperatedly. "You think I wouldn't do you a favor if I could? Fire away."

Kaito took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. _"I... Bring Aoko here. Could you do that please? Somehow?"_

Conan smiled sadly. "It would be an honor."

* * *

"Conan-kun? Where are we going?"

Aoko asked this as the seven year old pulled her down the street. She had been surprised when he'd shown up on her doorstep, and even more surprised when he insisted that she follow him. They had caught a bus and rode it to Beika, and now Conan was pulling her down the streets as if on a mission.

When Conan didn't answer, Aoko tried again. "Conan-kun, where are you taking me?"

Conan smiled up at her sadly, more sad then she had previously thought a seven year old could look. "There's someone who wants to see you."

"But I don't know anyone in Beika. I've even been here before. Who would want to see me?" Conan didn't answer. Instead he paused in front of a gate. Aoko read the nameplate. "Kudo? Conan-kun, why are we here?"

She looked down and expected to see him. Her eyes widened as she saw that he was instead opening the gate. "Conan-kun! We can't just walk in!"

Conan looked back at her. "Come on Aoko-neesan. He's waiting for you."

A quick battle of curiosity versus respect of private property waged in Aoko's head, curiosity emerging victorious. Hesitantly she started following Conan, closing the gate behind them. "Okay." Curiosity trumped private property again when Conan pulled a key out of his pocket and opened the front door with it. If he had a key then it had to be all right.

Once inside Aoko and Conan slipped off their shoes. "So, who is it that wants to see me?"

Conan grabbed her hand again and started dragging her upstairs. "Come on, he's up here."

Aoko followed, looking around. Pictures lined the hall wall, showing a boy growing up with his parents. She recognized Kudo Yusaku the author, and realized that the other two must be his wife and son. As the boy grew older in the pictures, he started to be joined by a girl his age. She smiled. It was just like her and Kaito.

Aoko stopped. She couldn't think about Kaito. Not now. Not after everything that had happened.

"Aoko-neesan, hurry up. He's really impatient."

"Coming!" she said, and quickly hurried up the rest of the stairs. At the top she found Conan waiting, a small wooden box in his hands. He held it out to her. "Take it."

"Take it? But why?"

"Just do it," Conan insisted. "Take it. You can go into the first room on the left. When you're in there, open the box and pick up what's inside. I'll be downstairs in the library if you need me. It's that door right at the bottom of the stairs."

"Wait, Conan-kun..." Aoko's voice trailed off as the little boy ran down the stairs. She looked down at the box in her hands. It was very nice, with an inlay flower design. She looked up and spotted the door on the left. Wondering who was inside, she entered.

She paused in the doorway. No one was in the room. It appeared to be a simple unused bedroom. She closed the door behind her and sat down on the bed. Whatever was going on, it was a welcome distraction from life as it was. She didn't mind playing along for the time being.

The small latch on the box was flicked open, and the lid lifted. Aoko lifted out a length of dark blue velvet. It felt soft in her hands, barely used. In the middle of the clump of velvet was a piece of carved alexandrite. Aoko gasped as she recognized it. It was the second to last heist of Kaito Kid, the one that her father had failed to turn up in his search of Kaito's house. She looked to the door, wondering if she should go find Conan. Wondering if she should go demand why he had it. She picked it up to examine it closer. It truly was beautiful...

She screamed slightly when she looked away from it. Kaito Kid, ghostlike, shot, blood on his clothes, stood there. She dropped the stone, and he vanished. She quickly stood up and ran over to where he had stood. She spun around, finding nothing to indicate that someone had just been standing there. Her eyes caught sight again of the rock on the floor. What had just happened?

_Sorry to scare you. It's called Pandora. It won't bite, I promise._

Aoko squeaked. Slowly she moved forward, eying Pandora. Slowly, she knelt and reached out. She pulled her hand back just before it touched.

_Please Aoko._

Aoko reached out and grabbed Pandora. The tears started falling before she even turned around, knowing what she would find there.

And there he stood. Kaito Kid, in all his glory, dead by four bullets, bloodstained and devoid of life. He smiled wryly. _"Accidental pseudo-immortality. What are the odds?"_

"Baka!" Aoko shouted, throwing Pandora at him. He vanished again before Pandora reached him. Aoko sighed and moved to the other side of the room, retrieving Pandora. He appeared again. "Baka baka baka!" Aoko cried. "Why do you do stupid things like this?"

_"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. So, so sorry. For everything."_

Aoko wiped away her tears, and truly looked at him. She almost dropped Pandora again when she realized that he too was crying. "Why?" she asked, broken.

_"Because I love you. I couldn't tell you because I love you and I couldn't bear the thought of losing you."_

"So it's important enough to get killed for but not important enough to tell me?" Aoko asked bitterly.

Kaito took an ethereal step forward. _"Aoko, I-"_

Aoko clapped her hands over her ears. "I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear your excuses anymore!"

_"What if I don't want to give you an excuse?"_ Kaito asked quietly.

"Huh?" Aoko asked, looking back at Kaito.

_"What if I don't want to give you an excuse? What if I want to tell you something? I want to tell you something so important that it slipped out a few minutes ago before I could stop myself."_

Aoko slumped to the floor. "What if I don't want to hear it?"

_"Then you can walk out that door right now and you'll never see me again. I'll live forever, trapped inside Pandora, and you can go on with your life."_

"Kaito, I... I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. But..." She reached a hand out towards the ghost.

_"Look only. No touch,"_ Kaito said sadly.

"I love you!" Aoko suddenly screamed. "I love you I love you I love you! And I hate you! I hate you I hate you I hate you!"

_"Whatever, Ahouko."_

"Stupid, stupid Bakaito," Aoko muttered angrily. "You can't even die right."

_"Would you rather I was gone for good?"_

"No, but..."

_"Aoko?"_

"Yes?"

_"I love you. Please don't leave me hanging like this."_

"Me?" Aoko asked exasperatedly. "_Me_ leave _you_ hanging? You're fucking dead! You go and die, and then at the same time I find out I actually hate you! It's been weeks, and all of a sudden you're talking out of rock and telling me you love me! You always leave me hanging like this! Stop confusing me! Yes I love you! But I can't love you when you're looking like that, all Kaito Kid and dead-like," she gestured.

_"Can I tell you a story?"_

"I'm pretty sure I've already heard it."

_"But can I tell it to you?"_ Kaito asked, gesturing to the bed.

Aoko gulped and sat down. "Fine. Okay. Whatever. Fire away."

Kaito sat down next to her. _"It all started with a magician..."_

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**Aanndd here we are! This is the end folks! It's been fun writing this, definitely. I'm going to**** try ****and take a break from fanfiction now to work on my original fiction, but odds are that won't work for very long. I hope you like the ending as it is, and I hope you don't mind Kaito not being dead after all/Kaito not coming completely back to life. It's been a fun ride.**


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